Our Adventures: August 2013

The following paragraph was written about 2 months ago when we were in the Portland area and I liked it so I decided to leave it in 

6/21/13 - I would like to point out an observation I have made. That is: the weather in this part of Oregon is subject to change every day about 4 pm. We have been in the “Alaska Drizzle” now off and on for about 2 weeks. We call it the “Alaska Drizzle” because when we were in Alaska that is just what it did a LOT, drizzled. It didn’t rain, you could not really call it sprinkling it was just a fine drizzly mist. But here in Oregon, at about 4 pm the clouds start to break up, the blue sky shows through and then comes the sun. Let me tell you the sun is HOT when it does come out! Once it does come out it is light until almost 9:30 pm. It's wonderful!! But it sure gets to be 10 pm quickly every day!!! We have made it to the top of the state now and are heading to the coast. We are very excited to get there.

And get there we did!!!!

The last 6 weeks of our season were spent on the Oregon Coast, from Astoria to Brookings and everywhere in between. We couldn’t wait to get there and yet we were looking forward to leaving by the time it was over. One thing we realized early on is that the Oregon Coast is NOTHING like the California coast, at least not the Southern California Coast. It is mostly windy, cool, foggy and gray during the summer months. From what we were told the winter months bring horrendous winds, with 70+ mph winds. NO thank you! You know the wind blows consistently when the branches of the trees all face one direction. There were a few days that we had clear skies but still they were never really warm, not like we expected for summer anyway. We wore a light jacket and long pants almost every day. And we never wore shorts the entire summer. When the sun did come out it was beautiful. I loved the huge rocks that dotted the ocean along the coast and that gave refuge to a vast variety of sea birds. One afternoon we were walking on the beach in Cannon Beach and could see a huge black cloud of birds flying and calling out. It turns out that in the middle of the ruckus was a bald eagle. I am sure the eagle was a danger to their nests and or young so they all worked together trying to ward it off. We watched for quite a while until the Eagle finally gave up and went to roost in a tree. It is amazing how once you have seen a bald eagle in a far off tree how well you can then keep picking it out, even after you have looked away for a long period of time. That white head stands out against the green trees. But if you had never seen it before you would never know it was there. We find ourselves looking straight ahead, down or from side to side. When we do look up we are amazed at what we see! Clouds shaped like a silhouette or a poodle, an Osprey carrying a fish in its talons or a Bald Eagle waiting in a distant tree waiting for an opportunity to swoop down on unsuspecting prey. Those are a few of the things that we WILL miss on the Oregon Coast.

Thanks, Elwyn & Judy for meeting us for dinner! We will do it again next year when we are in Brookings again..